Improvement in steering apparatus



W. H.V NELSON.

STEERING APPARATUS.

No, 192,274, y Patented June 19,1877.

NFETERS. PHOTO-LITHOGRAPHER, WASHINGTON, D. G4

NITE) STATES WILLIAM E. NELSON, 0E SALEM, MAssAoEUsErrs;

IMPROVEMENT IN STEERING APPARATUS.

Specioation forming part of Letters Patent No. 192,274, dated June 19, 1877; application filed May`11, 1877.

To all whom it may concern Beit known that I, WILLIAM H. NELSON, of Salem, in the county of Essex and State of Massachusetts, am the inventor of an Improved Steering Apparatus for Ships, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this speciflcation.

My invention relates to the apparatus or mechanism employed to swing or turn the tiller of a ships rudder; and it consists in the devices and their combinations hereinafter particularly described, and as more at length recited in the claim.

Figure 1 is a front elevation of a steering mechanism embodying my invention; and Fig. 2 is plan of the same, part of the upper deck being cut away to disclose the parts underneath.

R is the rudder-post of the ship. M is the upper deck, and N is the deck immediately below it. T is the tiller, which is fixed in the rudder-post between the decks, as shown, and just above the point where the said post has its bearing in the lower deck N.

Upon the upper deck, mounted in journals in a housing or box, a, is the shaft al. This shaft is extended rearwardly beyond the housing a, and has xed upon it, on such projecting end, the hand-wheel A. Upon the shaft al within the housing is xed the chain-pulleyaz.

The housing is preferably made with its upper portion above the journals of the shaft a1 detachable, like a lid.

Between the decks, and suspended from the under side of the upper deck M by means of hangers b, is the drum B. The hangers b may be made adjustable vertically by means of suitable screws, so that the drum may be raised or lowered in its relation to the shaft al on the upper deck.

Upon the forward end of the drum B is formed a chain-pulley, b1, over which passes a chain-belt, b3, to and around the pulley a? on the shaft a1. By means of this arrangement the movement of the shaft al is communicated to the drum B.

Upon the end of the tiller T, on either side, are xed the double blocksc c1 and d d1. To posts or stanchions P and P', fixed between the decks, and in line with the end of the tiller, are fixed, respectively, the double blocks c2 c3 and d2 d3, the said blocks being arranged at the same height from the deck N as is the tiller end.

A cable or rope, C, secured at one end to the post P at e, is passed first to' and over the block c on the tiller; thence to and up over the block c3 on the postP; thence to and down over the block c1 on the tiller; thence to and up over the block c2 on the post P, and thence to and up over and several times around the drum B thence to and down over the block d2 on post P; thence to and upon block d1 on the tiller, thence to and down over block d3 on post P 5 thence to and up over block d on the tiller, and thence to the post P', to which it is secured at e.

In steering devices, as heretofore constructed, the drum B, upon which the cable U is wound, has been xed directly upon, and been part of, the shaft al, being thus situated on the upper deck, while the cable C, as Well as the tiller and the riggingblocks, have been also arranged on the upper deck. Here they have been subjected to the action of the weather, the cable being soon rotted, while the switching of the rudder by the action of the water, being communicated directly to the drum on the Wheel-shaft, has caused a continual strain upon the wheel, and the expenditure of power by the pilot in keeping the wheel steady during the continuous shocks of the water upon the rudder, thus causing the strength of the pilot to become rapidly exhausted. By means of my apparatus it is evident that these objections are fully met and avoided. The rudder strain is entirely upon the drum B, which, being distinct from the wheel-shaft, is not felt by the pilot, and the drum, cable, tiller, and rigging, being between decks, are not subjected to the action of the weather, and are wholly out of the way on the upper deck. The housing a protects the chain-pulley a? and chain-belt b3.

Having thus described my invention, what I shaft al, and also the claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

In a steering apparatus for ships, the eombination of shaft al, carrying Wheel A and chain-pulley a2, together with housing a on the upper deck M, with the tiller T, having blocks co1 and d d1, the posts P P', with blocks c2 c3 and d2 d3, respectively, and the cable G,

together with the suspended drum B below said deck M, as described, and for the purpose specified.

WM. H. NELSON.

` Witnesses:

A. S. FITGH, B. S. CLARK. 

